Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Option 4 is always the easiest. That does have a few downsides too.

haha, well one big downside anyhow.

maybe i should mention just in case it matters that my horn/cigarette lighter

do not work. if you put a new fuse in u can honk the horn once or twice but then it blows the fuse, same thing with the cig. lighter since they are on the same fuse. My uncle says there may be a short in the circuit, idk if that will help us or not. also, i had my rad. fan on today while driving around with my sound system OFF, it didn't drop below 12v even when sitting at a stop light. i'm wondering if my sound system might be the problem after all. does the wire for your sound system draw power even if the system is turned off? (i mean if it had a short in the circuit would it still drain power?)

cuz i'm gonna disconnect the whole thing and see if that helps at all, like i said before the wire was run through the door and hinge and into the engine bay so if there was a cut in the wire insulator that could cause a short right?

i just sent back my alternator this afternoon, i still want to give the high output one a shot, who knows, it might help after all.

btw, does anyone know if home depot sells 1 gauge wire that i can use for the big 3? lol i work there but i forget if they do or not. also, do they have the ring terminal connectors for 1 gauge wire or will i have to buy those seperately?

thanks
max

[landj]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I think doing number 2 first would be prudent. ("insert lame joke here") It won't cost you any money.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I think doing number 2 first would be prudent. ("insert lame joke here") It won't cost you any money.

i'm lazy, the red batt. terminal is stripped to **** and it's a pain in the *** to take it on and off so thats why i haven't done it yet but i will today or tomorrow.

[dobie]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

1. You don't have a short in the sound system because you would either blow a fuse or see lots of smoke.

2. With the sound system disconnected everything works fine so the problem is that the sound system draws too much power at idle.

Your choices are:
1. Get an alternator that can supply the power you need at idle.
2. Change the pulley size to a smaller one so the alternator spins faster at idle causing it to generate more power.
3. Combination of 1 and 2.

I hate to see you going through all the gyrations of changing wire gage, swapping alternators and batteries, etc. knowing that it won't fix the root of your problem. If it were me, I would get the HO alternator with an overdrive pulley and that should take care of it.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

1. You don't have a short in the sound system because you would either blow a fuse or see lots of smoke.

2. With the sound system disconnected everything works fine so the problem is that the sound system draws too much power at idle.

Your choices are:
1. Get an alternator that can supply the power you need at idle.
2. Change the pulley size to a smaller one so the alternator spins faster at idle causing it to generate more power.
3. Combination of 1 and 2.

I hate to see you going through all the gyrations of changing wire gage, swapping alternators and batteries, etc. knowing that it won't fix the root of your problem. If it were me, I would get the HO alternator with an overdrive pulley and that should take care of it.

first let me see if the h.o. alternator will do the trick w/out the (should it be OVERDRIVE) pulley.

then if i have to i will get it.

[Archer]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

if your frying fuses.. you have to have a short somewhere. Check to make sure you have nothing in ur cig lighter.. I had a small piece of wire and I was frying my dash lights. it has to be something burnt up somewhere for you to honk ur horn and blow a fuse. it has to be much more than an alt. and batt. take the car to a place to have a diagnostic ran on it before you run anymore money up. Diag the elctrical system. that will pinpoint the problem, then go from there. if you had a newer maro, I would just give ya my interior harness.. but it has to be something in your wiring, something you fried installing that alt.. and Im assuming everything worked just fine till you did this alt install am I correct?

Archer

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

if your frying fuses.. you have to have a short somewhere. Check to make sure you have nothing in ur cig lighter.. I had a small piece of wire and I was frying my dash lights. it has to be something burnt up somewhere for you to honk ur horn and blow a fuse. it has to be much more than an alt. and batt. take the car to a place to have a diagnostic ran on it before you run anymore money up. Diag the elctrical system. that will pinpoint the problem, then go from there. if you had a newer maro, I would just give ya my interior harness.. but it has to be something in your wiring, something you fried installing that alt.. and Im assuming everything worked just fine till you did this alt install am I correct?

Archer

no sir, the cig. lighter and horn have not worked since i bought the car 2 years ago.

but there has not been a voltage problem since about a year ago. at that point i got a capacitor for my amp, did the big 3 upgrade and still no luck.

thats why i truly believe that the h.o. alterntor will work if i can ever get one.

[landj]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Try disconnecting the cap, if that was the last thing installed before these problems. I know you already have like a million things to test, but perhaps the cap is causing a drain. I'm not too familiar with the large 1-farad (that's just crazy to me) capacitors, but when the little ones (1-milli farad) go bad, they will sometimes start to conduct electricity. If you do disconnect it, do it safely, I heard those caps will shock the snot out of things.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Try disconnecting the cap, if that was the last thing installed before these problems. I know you already have like a million things to test, but perhaps the cap is causing a drain. I'm not too familiar with the large 1-farad (that's just crazy to me) capacitors, but when the little ones (1-milli farad) go bad, they will sometimes start to conduct electricity. If you do disconnect it, do it safely, I heard those caps will shock the snot out of things.

naw, the cap came in AFTER the problems were being had. thats actually why i got the cap in the first place, because i was getting low voltage, but nice try. :wavey:

i'm gonna get another high output alternator, not frying it this time. :spank:

and then we'll se how that goes.

if that doesn't work i'm gonna upgrade all my BIG 3 to 1 gauge wire and crap like that.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

lol I was just kiddin with ya! Common, do you really think I want you to drive your car off a cliff?

this whole voltage thing is pissing me off, i've been dealin with it for quite some time now, and i only get more upset when i break **** like i did with the alternator.

[Blizzard242]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Ok so.. originally when this problem started.. I can't remember what all was said but did you load test the battery?

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

Ok so.. originally when this problem started.. I can't remember what all was said but did you load test the battery?

NO, i had it checked out at advanced auto, they told me both the batt. and alternator were OK. They suggested i get a capacitor for my sound system so i got a 1 farad cap and installed that and it didn't really help much. I kind of left it at that for a while. Then in the winter time i got reading about the BIG 3 upgrade and ended up buying the zzp rewire kit which runs a 4 gauge wire from the rear of the alternator to the + post on the fenderwell.

I also added a 4 gauge ground wire from the engine to the - terminal post on the fenderwell. i did not upgrade the bat. - to chassis ground cuz it only is useful when the car is not running from what i have deducted.

after doing this, my voltage was always fine with my system blasting and my headlights on, unless of course i was at a light for more than a minute.

i would have been ok with where my volts were at except for the fact that my car was overheating now and i needed to add a manual fan switch to keep if from overheating in the summer days.

with this new drain on the voltage system things are not good when the fan is ON. but i have little choice but to keep it on, simply because i don't want my car to overheat.

well now you say, "fix the overheating problem and you wont' need the fan switch and every thing will be nice and peachy"

well, my coolant is full, i have a 180 degree thermo, and it still heats up to 220 in a matter of 30 seconds at a stop light.

as long as my car is MOVING it stays cool because of the air coming through the air deflector, but for whatever reason when stopped, my car overheats like crazy, and fast too.

heres what i'm doing to help fix the problem:

on thursday i'm going to a shop to get a COMPLETE flush of my coolant system, block and all. Adding brand new coolant (obviously) and installing a 160 degree thermostat. On top of all this i'm putting in new upper and lower radiator hoses and getting my exhaust welded up (its got a lot of U clamps on it and i'd rather it be welded)


i'm REALLY hoping this will help out my cooling system. It has been running hot like this ever since i've added headers to my car.

so heres what it boils down to.

i'm gonna do all that with the cooling system, and hopefully i will not have to use the rad. fan so much, therefore not making me need so much voltage on a regular basis (obv. in the fall and early spring this will not be a problem as the temps are generally cooler.)

On top of that, i'm going to get another h.o. alternator and give that a whirl, since many people think i just need more amps at idle.

thats the jist of it, have anymore Questions, please ask.

[tkoforpresident]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

dude...take your car to a shop. Shes sick

did u read the last post?

i'm taking it to a shop on thurs.

gonna get this heat prob. fixed.

[dobie]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

first let me see if the h.o. alternator will do the trick w/out the (should it be OVERDRIVE) pulley.

then if i have to i will get it.

Yes, it should be an overdrive pulley (which is smaller in diameter than the stock one). I noticed on another thread that you have an underdrive pulley setup. An underdrive pulley setup frees up horsepower by making all of your accessories run slower. In otherwards, your alternator is turning slower at idle than it should which reduces its output. If you do nothing else until you get the HO alternator, put the stock crankshaft pulley back on.

[landj]

Re: Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I agree with Dobie. HO alternator, if that doesn't work, overdrive pulley.

On an aside, my coolant heats up too at lights. That's normal. The 160 thermo will only delay it a little longer. Coolant flush shouldn't hurt things though. Maybe.